Tag Archives: New Moon Folk Club

The Dead South at New Moon drew both a sizeable audience (the show sold out months in advance) and a selfie-taking one (but I’ve got to admit the kickdrum was a pretty good backdrop). The Regina-based band’s music is visceral, pulling you into the drama of the song’s lyrics with the gritty coarse vocal delivery; versatile, moving easily from sweeping melodies in the cello to fiery banjo solos; and viral, see the intense online following generated in part by their music video for “In Hell I’ll Be in Good Company”. Looking towards the bar area, you might have thought you were at a Whyte Ave bar rather than at a folk club watching a show, as people gathered to dance or (often more accurately) sway to the music drinks in hand. The enthusiasm (standing for nearly three hours) was not limited to this stalwart set of individuals but permeated throughout the hall as spontaneously people jumped up and began to sing and dance along.

I’ll admit my previous (lack of) knowledge of The Dead South came from the radio and a few videos on YouTube— I’d never seen them live, and the theatricality of the show caught me a bit by surprise. Right away the stage set-up which included some cattle skulls/horns and a fence post sign and the uniform style of the band’s clothing gave off a very old-timey wild west vibe. Then there was the music (theirs I assume) that accompanied the band’s entrance to the stage which to me was very unexpected—I don’t think I’ve ever see a band at a folk club have entrance music before. Third, the storm scene for “The Massacre of El Kuroke”—I had wondered how they’d deal with extra-musical sounds—turns out they had a recording that they played against. Less surprising, given the many takes the video must have taken to shoot, but nonetheless delightful was the excellent choreography (from cracking beers to the finger snap shuffle) for “In Hell I’ll Be in Good Company”. The theatrical elements blended just the right amount of extra-musical entertainment to go along with the intricate foot-stomping musical performance.

The whole evening, which began with an opening set from Red Deer’s Boots & The Hoots, was a throwback to the wild west (maybe the imagined lands of spaghetti western fame?) and the golden era of country & western music. It was visceral, versatile, and given the tightness of the musical performance certain to go viral beyond the digital realm—I know I’ve been whistling the opening to “In Hell” all day.

The New Moon Folk Club season reconvenes in the new year with Belle Plaine on January 26th.

Imagine you are picking some of your best friends up the airport. They’ve just flown in from an international adventure and you haven’t seen them for some time. Before the car doors have been slammed the conversation is already in full-swing. They are telling you stories of shows they saw and food they ate. Once you arrive at their home they’ve convinced you that they need to stay awake in order to re-set their internal clocks so you follow them inside and the stories continue to flow. Someone apparently was on the phone on the ride from the airport and more friends quickly arrive at the door. Soon a celebration of your friends’ return is underway. Souvenirs and stories from their trip are passed around while the atmosphere and discussion dissolve into a jet-lagged induced, hilariously loopy party.

You might ask why I’d ask you to imagine such a scenario. Well to me it is the best way to put you in the correct mindset for attempting to describe what happened when The Paperboys descended at the New Moon Folk Club. The show was a sell-out and the queue to get inside snaked up and down the lobby a few times before it continued out into the dark, snowy parking lot. Everyone was eager to hear The Paperboys who had just flown in from Dublin, as part of their 25th anniversary tour—what songs from the back catalogue would we get to hear?

Once The Paperboys took the stage it was time for the stories to start flowing: Geoff Kelly’s imaginary food baby? Apparently courtesy of Greggs’ Cornish pasties, and sausage rolls; St. Basil’s Cultural Center? Double the size of any of the small folk club venues they played in the UK and Ireland. Just like the imaginary scenario I described you were never sure if at one moment the band would all collapse from exhaustion. They never did succumb to their need for sleep, always keeping the energy level cranked—and they played until 11 o’clock which would be 6 am in the UK!

The atmosphere was a party and then some. I have never seen so many people dancing at an Edmonton folk club. Ever. Both sides of the stage had people out of their seats, twirling and bopping along to the constantly evolving musical selections blasting from the stage. We sang along with “California” at the top of our lungs and then The Paperboys started pulling in extra performers, Calvin Vollrath traded off fiddle duties for a song or two with Kalissa Landa, Jeremiah McDade offered some saxophone solos and Remi Noel joined in on trombone.

At the end of the night you were exhausted but invigorated. It was a fantastic night that like The Paperboys’ music itself defies all attempts to describe it…so imagine an evening of stories and songs bouncing from topic to topic seamlessly as only the best of friends can manage.

The next show at the New Moon Folk Club is the Dead South and is also sold-out, so start planning for 2018 and get your tickets early to the shows in the new year. Also new is New Moon crowd-sourcing local musicians for the First Set—if you know of a local artist who would benefit from playing the first set at a New Moon show email their information to FirstSetnmfc[at]gmail.com.

Having experienced the electrifying musical stylings of the Toronto-based folk quintet Union Duke during their visit to Edmonton’s Northern Lights Folk Club last year, we thought we’d better catch up with the band for a lightning interview before their stop at the New Moon Folk Club this Friday. Of the five member group—Ethan Smith, Jim McDonald, Matt Warry-Smith, Will Staunton, and Rob McLaren—we spoke with Matt who plays ukulele and sings.How did you get started in music? Are you self-taught or otherwise?

We all sort of came at music from different angles. Rob is the only one with an actual music degree I think. I took private trumpet lessons as a kid and then performed in lots of musicals growing up. We’ve all been playing in bands in one way or another since we were young teens so while we all had at least a little bit of musical education we’ve also done plenty of learning with each other.

How did Union Duke form?

Ethan, Jim and I met in high school. We played in a bunch of rock bands together and pulled a reverse Bob Dylan by going acoustic. Met Will and Rob through mutual musical friends a few years in and things just clicked.

You spend a lot of time on tour—do you have a favourite part of touring? A favourite place to tour to?

I mean, it’s all pretty good, except the crazy long hours in the car. I would say the top things are meeting interesting people and hearing their stories, staying in cool places we otherwise wouldn’t have found ourselves in, and obviously playing shows. We like to have fun wherever we can find it so we always keep an eye out.

Most places we’ve been have been great for different reasons. It’s tough to settle on just one. We like to say “different landscapes for different band mates”. A few great spots off the top of my head: hidden cliff jumping spot near Moncton, NB, mountain hot springs in BC, BEEF in Alberta and back home for bed.

In previous interviews you have said that your writing process involves workshopping ideas from individual band members—what happens to the songs that don’t make the cut for Union Duke?

Sometimes they hang around and become part of the live show. Sometimes they even end up becoming a recorded song on a later album or on a digital release. A few of them end up going to other projects we might be working on but most never see the light of day. We write A LOT of songs so we don’t really end up missing the ones we don’t love.

You have said that you have eclectic musical influences—what was the last concert you attended as a fan?

Most Anticipated Artists

I find it hard to resist the melodic and harmonic intertwining of treble voices. Their upcoming performances at EFMF is significant because its their only North American stop on their summer festival circuit with their other dates based in England, Scotland, and Finland. While their recent series of folk music symphonic collaborations demonstrate a progressive move to share their art, I am excited to see them in their raw vocal form.

I’m about 95% sure I ran across The Jerry Cans at a folk fest a few years ago, and seem to remember enjoying what I heard immensely. However, surrounded now with old festival programs I can’t seem to put my finger on where & when exactly that crossing of paths might have taken place. Regardless of my own questionable memory, The Jerry Cans are my pick for most anticipated artist of EFMF 2017 … have you heard their cover of The Hip’s “Ahead by a Century”?

Most Anticipated Workshop

I will be in the mood for some mellow vocals and heavy strums of the acoustic guitar at this Saturday morning session. I find the workshop title alluring since it’s always interesting to consider perspective through a distinct musical voice.

On Saturday morning I’m anticipating requiring the high energy infusion that is an EFMF Ceili. Hopefully these talented artists blending, Irish, Scottish & Acadian trad music, will make up for me running on lots of coffee and very little sleep.

Old Favourites

The sweet tunes of Allison Russell and JT Nero last played to a sell-out crowd at New Moon Folk Club. That performance left YEG audiences with a desire for a return visit. I am so excited to listen to their tunes on the hill!

The geniuses behind the Winnipeg Folk Fest curate a series called Hear All Year and to some extent that is what the Edmonton folk clubs do for us. They bring a bit of that timeless August magic into the dreary grey, slush-filled prairie winter evenings. At New Moon the glimpse’s of summer aren’t just the music, or even the line-up for the door that wound through the lobby a few times at the final show of the 2016–17 season, it is the sense of community that permeates the whole scene. It seemed that more than ever people were stopping by each others tables to visit, catching up with a neighbour in line, or even striking up conversations with unknowns at their table. In many ways the last show of New Moon’s second season felt like the Sunday of Folk Fest — I, for one, was almost ready to sing “Four Strong Winds” and climb up a ski-hill at the end of the night.

After the perogy line finally abated Rebecca Lappa took to the stage. The Edmonton native charmed the audience with quirky stories about her childhood documentary obsession (the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart) and even linked the reality TV show Millionaire Matchmaker to her original song “Crockpot Girl”. Lappa was joined by Nick Samoil on keyboards, creating a full sound that carried through St. Basil’s even with the simple configuration of just a guitar, keyboard and Lappa’s voice.

Following Lappa’s opening act, Leeroy Stagger’s four piece band came out with their own take on The Shmenge Brother’s “Cabbage Rolls and Coffee” as an introduction that brought Stagger to centre stage. “Cabbage Rolls and Coffee” was both appropriate (given the available cuisine) and hilariously executed even if the reference was missed by some. He told us that his wife phoned him just before he took the stage to tell him that their young son has heard dad on the TV and had been singing along with the la-la-las of “I Want It All”, eliciting a chorus of “awwwhs” from the audience. But Stagger wasn’t just about laughter and light topics. “Little Brother” was written after Stagger’s own younger brother was in a serious accident, which brought Stagger to his bedside during a week long coma. The evening also featured a number of other tunes off Stagger’s new album, Love Versushitting stores on April 7th, including “Crooked Old Road” which Joel Plaskett appears as a guest musician on. Ending the main sets was the older “Radiant Land” which is about standing up for what you believe, asking:

What would you do?
What would you do if it all came down to them or you?
Would you stand tall and fight?In the fields of this radiant land

Stagger segued seamlessly from his own words to Bob Dylan’s reminding us that “the times, they are a-changing.”

To say that all the musicians on stage with Stagger were talented, would be an understatement. Their performance was polished but that doesn’t mean it was stagnant. Keyboardist Michael Ayotte often held the in between song bits together using chords like glue, while drummer Nick Stecz was quick to jump in with a drummer roll for the door-prize draws at intermission & provided a vibrant rhythmic underpinning to the whole evening. Tyson Maiko’s (the bassist) fifteen years of playing with Stagger showed in his banter with the lead singer and Ryland Moranz was phenomenal switching between instruments — mandolin, banjo, various guitars, and likely some other instruments I missed — like it was a game of musical chairs (and he was winning). Together this quintet brought down the house for the New Moon Season, and all we can do is look forward to what is in store for next season.

Early bird season passes for New Moon’s next season go on sale June 1st, and the discounted rate continues until the 30th.

Joël Fafard kicked off the New Moon Folk Club’s double bill of Blues offerings with gritty vocals and punny intersong banter. Fafard’s Jitterbug Swing had an agile bluesy swing, Woodshed Blues vocals had a tone of lamentation, while the instrumental track Sweet Mosquito Buzz showcased his slide dexterity. He shared aural glimpses into his family when introducing tunes like If I had a Boat where he noted his son’s wish to be a hockey player which was later replaced with aspirations to be a pirate. He reasoned that any good pirate would need a ship for pillaging, but a good pirate captain would require excellent swordsmanship skills, thus, that is where fencing lessons settled as the current pursuit.

Michael Jerome Browne

Michael Jerome Browne’s set had an ethnomusicological feel to it as he would provide a historical backstory before each one of his songs. He brought an array of instruments such as a guitar from the 1940s, mandolin, 12-string guitar, and a gourd banjo with which to showcase his encyclopedic musical knowledge. His set list contained tunes spanning back to content he recorded back in the early 1990s but they still sounded relevant in our modern times. He played the tracks such as Got your Summer Shoes On and Living in the Whitehouse with class calmly switching out different harmonicas, stringed instruments, and updating tuning between each of the songs to offer an accurate performance of his work. Browne ended his set with a the title track from his 2016 album Can’t Keep a Good Man Down and he dedicated a heartfelt encore of Sam Cooke’s That’s Where It’s At to all the lovers in the audience.

The Slocan Ramblers — Frank Evans on banjo, Adrian Gross on mandolin, Darryl Poulsen on guitar and Alastair Whitehead on bass — are consistently described as one of Canada’s up-and-coming bluegrass acts to watch. We wondered how they got their start, their musical taste, and how they go about writing their tunes. Whitehead of the Toronto based group answered some of these questions for us prior to their visit to Edmonton.

The Slocan Ramblers had a whirlwind start, practically booking an opening gig before you even had played together. What prompted the formation of the band in the first place?

Yea, it’s funny to think back on it now. Adrian and I (Alastair) were living together while at music school, Darryl, Adrian, and I had started jamming at our apartment, and had bonded over our mutual enthusiasm for bluegrass and folk music, something not all that common for a few jazz school guys. I had met Frank at work and heard he was a great banjo player. We upgraded our jams to the garage to make room for him. The four of us hit it off both musically and socially pretty much from the get go. We were offered a gig before we had even really decided to be a band let alone chose a name. It went really well, and we were offered a monthly gig, then a weekly gig. Eventually we made our first album, started touring, and now it seems to be a full time occupation. We’ve definitely been really lucky with how it has all worked out.

How did you guys become a bluegrass band given the diverse musical backgrounds of each of the members as individuals?

We all got to bluegrass in our own separate ways, and perhaps for different reasons, but I think we can agree that our love of the music was solidified by the very vibrant bluegrass scene in Toronto. We get asked a lot how a bunch of young guys in Toronto got interested in bluegrass, the truth a lot of people don’t know is that there is a world class bluegrass scene in Toronto, with top notch bands almost every night of the week. Bluegrass is definitely a music best appreciated in a live setting. Having such a wealth of live bluegrass in Toronto was always a great source of inspiration.

A lot of your interviews mention the Foggy Hogtown Boys — how has this group has influenced your group?

As I mentioned before, Toronto is a great city for bluegrass with weekly gigs on almost every night of the week. One of the longest running and best known of those shows was the High Lonesome Wednesdays at the Silver Dollar Room. It ran for almost 20 years and was a major institution in Toronto, not just for bluegrass fans but all kinds of folks from all walks of life. For the majority of the High Lonesome Wednesdays existence, the Foggy Hogtown Boys, a well known Canadian Bluegrass band were the entertainment, performing under the name Crazy Strings. We all used to go to that show regularly. The Foggy Hogtown Boys are a great band, and set the bar high. They were a great source of inspiration for us, and in many ways helped shape the sound of our band. We have gotten to know all of them over the years and they have really supported us. Chris Coole one of the groups co-founders was kind enough to produce our last album. A couple of the Slocan Ramblers also perform somewhat regularly with another Foggy Hogtown Boy John Showman. I think the Foggy Hogtown Boys really helped establish the Bluegrass scene in Toronto and inspired a whole bunch of younger aspiring musicians to get into the genre.

Some of your songs are written by you and some are traditional tunes — what does the process of writing a tune look like for The Slocan Ramblers?

We started playing bluegrass because we loved the genre. There’s a pretty rich repertoire of songs in the bluegrass canon, and the best way to learn the music is to learn as many of those songs, and listen to as many recordings as possible. We really took that to heart when the band first got going. I feel like we will always enjoy digging up old songs and finding ways to adapt them to our sound. However, as the group evolved from our bar band roots we definitely wanted to challenge ourselves and find a sound we could call our own. Writing original music seemed like the natural progression. We have all really embraced composition and song writing, and I feel it has definitely become a strength for the band. In terms of our writing process, I feel like it is still continually evolving. We still draw a lot from the traditional roots of the music, but we are also a lot more confident to stretch the boundaries and challenge our listeners. The process is pretty fluid and often different from tune to tune. We try not to self analyze too much.

Reviews of your gigs constantly praise the vibrancy and excitement of your performance — how do you keep the enthusiasm levels of your shows high night after night on a tour?

Bluegrass is a really infectious and energetic music to begin with so that definitely works in our favour. It is also a music that is best enjoyed in a performance setting. Often people that had no idea they would enjoy bluegrass see the show and are total converts. There’s a lot of factors that play into it, the improvisational aspect of the music, the energy of playing live, the energy you get back from the crowd, when it all clicks it’s something really special. For me I think the biggest factor is that as a band we all still get along really well. I think the longevity of a band, and its success is largely based on whether or not the members still enjoy each others company after 5 years of touring, spending time together in the van, sleeping in hotels etc. Ultimately we all still get along really well, we still laugh at each others dumb jokes, and most importantly we are still inspired by each other musically. We all feel pretty lucky to be able to go on stage together every night and play our music for such great audiences, the energy seems to provide itself.

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There are couple opportunities in Edmonton to hear and/or be a part of this infectious and energetic music for yourself: